Cinnamon Mulled Wine for Exile Evenings
Red wine gently heated with sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and a citrus zest. A comforting drink for cold evenings, to be drunk steaming while talking of home.
Red wine gently heated with sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and a citrus zest. A comforting drink for cold evenings, to be drunk steaming while talking of home.
When the Thames fog chills you to the bone, citizen, there is nothing like a good mulled wine. I take an honest red—no need for a great cru for this—I throw in the sugar, a stick of cinnamon, two cloves, and the peel of an orange. We heat it without ever boiling, for boiling kills the wine! We drink it steaming, and we almost feel we have returned home.
- •Red table wine — a bottle (base)
- •Sugar — a few spoonfuls (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon stick — one (spice)
- •Cloves — two or three (spice)
- •Orange peel — from one orange (tangy aroma)
Cinnamon Mulled Wine for Exile Evenings
Red wine gently heated with sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and a citrus zest. A comforting drink for cold evenings, to be drunk steaming while talking of home.
Why this dish? Wine remained the thread of Ledru-Rollin's table, in Paris as in exile. In the damp cold of London, a wine reddened with sugar and spices warms the long evenings of the outlaw and recalls the wines of France he misses so much.
When the Thames fog chills you to the bone, citizen, there is nothing like a good mulled wine. I take an honest red—no need for a great cru for this—I throw in the sugar, a stick of cinnamon, two cloves, and the peel of an orange. We heat it without ever boiling, for boiling kills the wine! We drink it steaming, and we almost feel we have returned home.
Ingredients (period version)
- Red table wine — a bottle (base)
- Sugar — a few spoonfuls (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — one (spice)
- Cloves — two or three (spice)
- Orange peel — from one orange (tangy aroma)
Ingredients
- Full-bodied red wine (Côtes-du-Rhône, modest Bordeaux) — 75 cl (base)
- Sugar — 60 g (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (spice)
- Cloves — 3 (spice)
- Orange (zest and a few slices) — 1 (tangy aroma)
- Star anise — 1 (optional) (spice)
Method
- Pour the wine into a saucepan, add the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, orange zest and slices.
- Heat over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Keep just below a simmer (without ever boiling) for about ten minutes to infuse the spices.
- Strain and serve in heat-resistant glasses or cups, piping hot.
How it was made : Spiced mulled wine is a very old tradition (medieval hippocras is its ancestor), still alive in the 19th century as a winter beverage and folk remedy against cold and chills. Care was taken not to boil it to preserve the alcohol and aromas. A non-alcoholic version can be made with grape juice or herbal tea for children.
The contemporary twist : Serve in handled glasses with a dried orange slice and a cinnamon stick as a stirrer; a family version with spiced red grape juice for younger ones.
Sources : Tradition de l'hypocras et du vin chaud épicé européen ; usages hivernaux du XIXe siècle
Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin · Charactorium
